It's been a long time coming, but the Apple Watch is finally in India — six months after the initial launch. It's still a convenient time because Watch OS 2 has just released, bringing a bunch of new features (more on those in just a bit).

Globally, there is a fair bit of 'confusion' about smartwatches — research firm Kantar WorldPanel recently compiled a list of the top barriers to smartwatch adoption: 'too expensive', 'the phone does everything I need', 'I don't understand why I need one' and 'those functions aren't useful to me' were just some of them.

These are barriers that every smartwatch maker is facing, from Apple to Samsung, Motorola, LG, Pebble and others. So, coming back to Apple, there is nothing very groundbreaking here at first glance. It has a rectangular amoled display, various sensors (including ambient light, gyro, accelerometer, heart rate), it pairs with the iPhone over Bluetooth for notifications and it charges via induction. There are two sizes to choose from (38 and 42mm) and three distinct lines: Sport, Watch & Edition. In functionality, they're all the same — the difference is in the materials.

The Apple Watch Sport has a case made from 7000 series aluminium and a strengthened glass. The Watch has hardened stainless steel while the Edition uses 18 karat gold. Notably, the Watch and Edition have sapphire glass which is substantially more resistant to scratching than even the hardest screen glass. The Watch will work with any iPhone 5 and newer, as long as it is running iOS 8.2 or newer. The pre-loaded Watch app takes care of setting it up for you, which only takes a few minutes. The control system is limited to swipes, taps and the use of the digital crown (rotate or click) and one extra button (quick access to contacts).

So what can it do for you? You can finely control how it notifies you about various things. You can accept calls on it (a speaker and microphone are built in). And you can use it to monitor your activity levels. But what sets it apart from all the other smartwatches?

For starters, it has the typical Apple design finesse and build quality. The integration with iOS allows you to read and respond to (with Siri) all notifications. There are some beautiful watch faces. Our favourites were the Mickey Mouse (his hands show the time), Time Lapse (a few cities are included) and the detailed Earth, Moon & Solar System faces. TimeShift lets you use the crown to move forwards or backwards in time to look at future/past events and reminders. The TapTic engine is a superb addition that can subtly 'tap' on your wrist (rather than vibrate) to remind you to move.

There are various apps you can get (even some games) — though this is one area where more work has to happen. Many good apps are built in though. For instance, it can be a remote for the iPhone camera — with a live feed of the viewfinder. This means you can prop your iPhone on a tripod, use the watch to fire up the camera app, see what it sees, put yourself in the frame and take the photo (even with a handy 3 second time for selfies).

Coming to Watch OS 2, some of the additions are new watch faces, a nightstand mode (it looks like a bedside clock when placed down for charging), support for third-party complications (little widgets on the watch face) and the ability to set your own photos as a watch face. There is a mind boggling variety of bands to choose from: starting from the entry-level fluoroelastomer ones, to leather loops, the Milanese loop and stainless steel bracelets. You can even buy bands from various third-party brands.

Despite the steep cost of the Watch and bands (and the absurd prices of the Edition), the Watch is one of the most compelling smartwatches around for the same reason why the iPhone is so popular. It's the combined package of tightly integrated OS, beautiful hardware, interest from app developers and large accessory ecosystem. One of the major competitors will be Samsung's Gear S2 — though there's no word on when it launches in India.

Several people ET spoke with about Ericsson’s India operations, including its current and former employees, said the Stockholm-based firm has reduced headcount in the last one year or so across functions, in line with its global restructuring.